The Standard

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In August 2014 two journalists living more than 4,000 miles apart slipped across a border to find safety: one with his wife and three children, the other alone. Idrak Abbasov, from Azerbaijan, and Sanna Camara, from Gambia, faced imprisonment because of their reporting. Neither has been able to return home.

1. How media ownership and advertising curb critical reporting

Attempts to control the media in Kenya date back to at least 1929, with transmission of the first radio signal by the British East African Broadcasting Corporation, which served the interests of the colonial government. Throughout the country’s history, including independence in 1963 and the end of one-party rule in 1992, the press has largely served the interests of those in power, with leaders expecting loyalty and support, Kenyan media scholar Wilson Ugangu wrote in an essay published this year.

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Nairobi, April 19,
2013--Two investigative journalists have reported receiving death threats
in Kenya shortly after airing a story suggesting foul play in a government
official's death, according to news reports and local journalists.

Election-related violence is a worry for
journalists in many countries, but perhaps nowhere more so than Kenya, where presidential
polls will be held March 4. In the aftermath of the nation's last presidential
elections in 2007, over one thousand people were killed in ethnic and political
violence, live news broadcasts were banned, and the press faced a torrent of
threats, leading to widespread self-censorship. Already, in recent weeks, some journalists
have been harassed and their equipment confiscated, while media houses have
been threatened in relation to coverage.

Lagos,
Nigeria, September 17, 2012--State security agents in the Gambia on Friday
ordered two independent newspapers to cease publication immediately but
provided no explanation, according to local journalists and news reports.

Agents from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in the capital, Banjul, visited the offices of the daily The Standardand the paper Daily News, which publishes three times a week, and told them that the president had ordered both papers to be shut down immediately, according to news reports. The agents told the staff that they could seek an explanation from the president's office, which oversees the operations of the NIA, news reports said. The officials did not specify how long the suspension would last.

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New York, April 13, 2012--Kenyan authorities
must investigate threats made against two journalists who covered a police raid
on a supermarket, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. One of the
journalists was also threatened in relation to another story he published.

New York, December 9,
2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of
Kenyan reporter Robert Wanyonyi who has been repeatedly threatened after
covering a melee between police and local villagers that left as many as seven
people dead.

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New York, November, 18, 2010--Reporter Nqobani Ndlovu remained in police custody today despite expectations that he would appear in court on criminal defamation charges, local journalists told CPJ. Police in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, arrested Ndlovu, a reporter for the private weekly Standard, on Wednesday and charged him with criminal defamation in relation to an article concerning the cancellation of police promotion examinations, according to local journalists.